European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 9, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 Arian space May launch first Intelsat i Washington / api in�1co to it j to i i  Intelsat a non profit satellite cooperative of 110 nations wants to switch the first scheduled launch of its new communications satellite from Nasa s space shuttle to Europe s ariane rocket an Intelsat spokesman said. The cooperative had hoped to launch the first Intelsat i satellite aboard a space shuttle in november 1987, Intelsat spokesman Tony Trujillo said Friday. Trujillo said Intelsat has contracted for three launches of its new satellite aboard the National aeronautics and space administration s space shuttle and two aboard unmanned rockets belonging to Arian space a private organization that launches from French Guiana in South America. The first launch was to be aboard Nasa s space shuttle. This is a precautionary measure to make sure we continue to provide state of the Art telecommunications services in a because of the Jan. 28 explosion of the space shuttle challenger and the resulting -.v.,,,3 a via a suspension of shuttle flights Trujillo said in timely fashion Trujillo said. It also is a Tel sat will try to switch the launch of its sat be p to Nasa at a troubling  elite to Arian space inc s ariane 4 rocket. Trujillo said Intelsat would not break any of its contracts with Nasa. The operative word there is to seek to use ariane for the first launch he said. Both the Nasa and Arian space con tracts contain clauses allowing for flexibility of timing under certain conditions he said. Intelsat is committed to the Nasa space shuttle program and we expect them to continue to be a reliable launch vehicle for us Trujillo said. He said the Intelsat Board of governors on Friday authorized director general Richard r. Colino to negotiate the revised launch timetable with the two space Agen cies. The satellite cooperative International telecommunications satellite Organiza Tion says its Intelsat i will be the most sophisticated commercial communications satellite Ever put into orbit with 30,000 two Way voice channels and three television channels. Trujillo said the cooperative Hopes to launch its second Intelsat i aboard the ariane 44l, a More powerful rocket than the ariane 4. The ariane 44l will allow the satellite to carry More fuel boosting its lifespan from about nine years to about 15 years he said. Cocoon of dust May surround Halley s nucleus Moscow not preliminary analysis of the data from the soviet Union s Vega 1 spacecraft indicates the nucleus of Halley s Comet May be a slightly elongated body wrapped in a cocoon of dust perhaps a Kilometre thick scientists participating in the Mission said Friday. In addition the Comet appeared to have at least one Region of violent dust movement a Region that Vega 1 passed through. The spacecraft emerged from the encounter with about 45 percent of its solar Power panels damaged according to soviet officials. Part of a French soviet Experiment that was situated in an unprotected area of the Craft was effectively destroyed by the dust according to French scientists. The news of the heavy dust bombardment clearly Wor ried scientists associated with the european space Agency s Giotto spacecraft which is scheduled to rendezvous with Halley s Comet thursday. The Giotto is programmed to Fly within 320.Miles of the nucleus surface. Vega 1 apparently suffered its damage shortly after its closest pass about 5,500 Miles from the nucleus. A second soviet spacecraft Vega 2, was scheduled to Fly More cameras and experiments into the dust and gases of the Comet sunday morning. But soviet scientists did not believe it would run into the same heavy bombardment or dust Jet encountered by Vega 1, because they expected Vega 2 s flight path to intersect a different less Active Region of the cometary atmosphere. There was some doubt Friday morning about whether Vega 1 survived the encounter As a functioning spacecraft. The doubt was resolved at 11 . When ground engineers switched on the solar panels. This spacecraft is alive announced Roald z. Sag Deyeva head of the soviet Institute of space research. A round table discussion of the principal investigators of Vega s experiments took place at the Institute Friday afternoon. One German Experiment to Analyse the dust closest to the Core May eventually provide clues to the exact chemical makeup of the icy nucleus which was formed As the solar system evolved 4.6 billion years ago. Other experiments were designed to understand the electromagnetic properties of the Comet and the reaction be tween the molecules in the gaseous coma around the nucleus and the solar winds. Virtually All scientists interviewed about the data Friday said it was far too soon for any definitive results of the experiments to be known. Japanese probe gets photos of Haffey s Corona to Viv / a r \ to. I i i. Of Tokyo a the Shisei space probe Japan s first major venture in space exploration and one of five unmanned Craft tracking Halley s Comet passed within 89,500 Miles of the Comet saturday and snapped its Pic Ture officials said. The Shisei which is japanese for Comet reached its closest Point to Halley s Comet shortly after 8 . Est said kunihiro Uesugi chief Engineer of the Institute of space and astronautical science. The encounter took place about 81 million Miles from Earth. It came two Days after the soviet Vega 1 probe streaked within 5,270 Miles of Halley s Core giving Earth its closest look yet at the visitor that swings around the Sun every 76 years. The Shisei is equipped with a camera sensitive to Ultra Violet rays that took pictures of the Corona of Hydrogen atoms around Halley s nucleus of ice and dust. But Uesugi said that because of the position of the Earth at the time Shisei approached Halley a the Japa Nese Institute s monitoring facilities could not receive Sig nals from the satellite. He said the signals were received by National aeronautics and space administration facilities in Spain and on the outskirts of los Angeles. Uesugi said the Nasa station in Goldstone calif., reported the satellite was functioning normally and Send ing signals As it made its closest approach to Halley s. The data will be flown to Japan next week he said. On tuesday a second japanese probe the Saki Gake Harbinger will Fly within 4.3 million Miles of the Comet equipped with instruments to track the solar wind. On thursday the european space Agency s Giotto spacecraft will Fly within 300 Miles of the Comet. Shisei which is 4 feet 7 inches in diameter was launched from the Kagoshima space Center in Southern Japan on aug. 19 for its rendezvous with Halley s Comet. Vega 1 soviet Union carrying american dust Detector March 6 6,250 Miles Vega 2 soviet Union carrying 2d american dust Detector March 9 2,000 Miles Shisei Japan March 8 124,000 Miles Giotto european space Agency March 13 300 Miles from nucleus Saki Gake Japan March 11 4,375,000 Miles it would be a Page right out of the satellite age  map \ n ctn. Tunn no u Washington a Geo Star corp. A locator and paging service that uses satellite signals to Contact trucks trains planes or people is working with the French space Agency on what could become a worldwide paging service a newsletter said Friday. Space business news a Trade paper on space Commerce says in its March 10 Edi Tion that the Princeton  company signed a memorandum of understand ing in january with ones the French space Agency to set up Geo Star Europe. The american version of the service could be operational by the Middle of the year. The satellite that would transmit the locator beams is scheduled for launch next Friday on ariane the european rocket. Melinda Gipson editor of the Publica Tion said both parties had agreed not to talk about the agreement until a joint announcement is made in a few weeks. Geo Star will be a minority stockholder in the venture the publication said. Cheryl a. Howarth a spokeswoman for Geo Star said details of the memo Are extremely  she and others at the corporation refused to discuss the mat Ter with a reporter. In november the International Tele communication Union adopted worldwide standards for the service. In july the Federal communications commission set aside frequencies for the system formally called radio determine Tion satellite service. Three satellites yet to be launched would Send and receive signals from land based beacons. By measuring the distance of the object on the ground from each of the satellites the object s exact location will be plotted by computer. Customers could be using the service within a few months if the launch is successful and the satellite works properly. Not Only could a person or object on Earth be located but a two Way signal would make it possible for a person to get directions to another specific place. For example a police officer or ambulance Driver could be Given directions to the nearest Hospital. Transmitter receivers would Cost $700 each during the Early period of production but the Price could drop to $150 with mass production. Geo Star plans to charge $45 a month to use a Beacon but company officials Esti mate that the Price could drop to $16 a month by 1993 As Competition develops